CAPPS Publications
 

The CAPPS Agenda

Ten-Point Plan to Reduce Corrections Spending January 2009. (Click here). Comprehensive strategy would: ● reserve prison beds for dangerous offenders ● promote successful re-entry ● increase parole rates for those who have served minimum sentences ● save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars Conservative recommendations rely on common corrections practices.

Improving and Enforcing Parole Guidelines, January 2007

CAPPS Recommendations for Reducing Excessive Incarceration,
March 2003

EPIC-MRI poll commissioned by CAPPS shows Michigan voters want less spending on prisons, more on crime prevention.  September 2004. 

Research Reports

• Denying parole at first eligibility: How much public safety does it actually buy?  A study of prisoner release and recidivism in Michigan, August 2009  An analysis of  76,721 cases of Michigan prisoners sentenced to indeterminate terms after 1981 and released for the first time from 1986 through 1999. The results show that continuing to incarcerate people who have served their minimum sentences for an additional year or two doesn't significantly improve public safety.  Examining re-offense rates by offense type shows that those sentenced for homicides and sex offenses are least likely to return to prison for new crimes.

• When 'life' did not mean life: A Historical Analysis of Life Sentences Imposed in Michigan Since 1900, September 2006  A discussion of Michigan's history of releasing those with life sentences by parole or commutation going back to the early 20th Century that shows lifers were paroled earlier in the past.

• Foreign Nationals in Michigan Prisons: an examination of the costs, April 2006  Information on the number of foreign nationals in Michigan prisons, a discussion about the economic feasibility of keeping these offenders after they become parole eligible and some profiles.

• Penny-Wise & Pound-Foolish: Assaultive offender programming and Michigan's prison costs, April 2005 (with the American Friends Service Committee's Michigan Criminal Justice Program) Information on assaultive and sex offender programs within the Michigan Department of Corrections, including the consequences of failing to deliver required programs before people reach parole eligibility.

• No way out: Michigan's parole board redefines the meaning of 'life', A discussion of parolable lifers, the Michigan parole board's treatment of these offenders, recommendations for change and profiles of some lifers.

• The high cost of denying parole: an analysis of prisoners eligible for release,  November 2003  A description of the policies of the Michigan parole board that resulted in reduced paroles, the impact on various groups of offenders and recommendations for change.

Legislative Testimony

HBs 4518, 4594-96 Juveniles Life Without Parole, House Judiciary Commmittee; June 23, 2010 Supports amendment to HB 4594 to include uniform criteria a judge must consider in deciding whether to impose non-parolable life sentence on teenager.  Opposes HB 4596 on parole consideration for those sentenced to life without parole because of overly limited circumstances.  See more here.

SB 1153, FY 2011 MDOC Budget, House Subcommittee on Corrections Appropriations, May 18, 2010  The CAPPS position on various recommended changes to the MDOC budget. 

SB 827, Presumption of Parole at the Minimum Sentence, Senate Judiciary Committee March 2, 2010 Supports presumptive parole in concept, opposes specific bill because it excludes thousands of prisoners based solely on their offense.

Presentation on CAPPS Recommendations, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Corrections Reform, Feb. 23, 2010 Support of legislation, in part, that would restore sentencing credits.

Testimony Regarding Sentence Credits, House Judiciary Committee, Feb. 24, 2010 Supports restoration of sentencing credits in some form, as is common in nearly all other states and 83 Michigan counties.

HB 4509 and 4510, speeding up the commutation process for seriously or terminally ill prisoners, House Judiciary Committee, March 25, 2009 CAPPS supports bill but would eliminate exclusion of sex offenders.